The Phantom Ryan Gosling

Remember a few years ago there was some loser running around pretending to be Brad Pitt? Pitt had long hair and a mega shaggy beard at the time and that dude walked around with a hat, getting into bars and parties fronting it was him.

I kinda feel like that’s what’s happening with Ryan Gosling.

Earlier this week, the Daily Mail reported Gosling was in South Africa. He wasn’t. Click here for a refresher. The next day, crazy bitches started freaking out about seeing him in Auckland, New Zealand. That’s interesting because on Monday he was still in Thailand, shooting a big fight scene for Only God Forgives at an arena just outside of Bangkok. I mean, there is an official production schedule. He’s on it every single day. How is it that these people keep getting it wrong?

Or is it something else?

Is this the new meme?

Instead of a “hey girl” site popping up every day, the new Gosling trend is to just keep seeing him everywhere? I’ve received several of these emails myself:

“Lainey, OMG, my friend had dinner RIGHT NEXT TO RYAN GOSLING IN BROOKLYN!!!”

As it relates to Celebrity Studies then, perhaps we can call this a new fame indicator. Tabloid mentions are one thing. Fansites and memes another. But hysteria over phantom sightings that subsequently get picked up by mainstream outlets...

THAT’s when you know you’re a big deal.

PS. I spent a few minutes looking for an old shot of that fake Brad Pitt and couldn’t find it. But at the time, he was featured in all the magazines.